Old ink: Snowy season

A driver checks plows on road salt trucks lined up in the state Department of Transportation Mansfield Square Maintenance Yard, located off Route 206 in Burlington County, as snow begins to fall in January.
Michael Mancuso/The Times

1874

COMPETITION — What are you Presbyterians going to do? Are you going to build a new church, one that will favorably compare with our Baptist neighbor, or are you going to let the old structure stand, a disgrace to the town?

MORE SNOW — Our citizens were astonished to awake last Wednesday and behold the earth covered with 5 inches of snow. Variety may be the spice of life and in the past week we’ve had a variety of rain, mud, snow and blow. We protest such a wholesale spice arrangement.

UNNATURAL — The hurtful practice of jumping rope is very extensively indulged in by the young girls of this village but perhaps after reading of little Flora Bartholo, who dropped dead after jumping 352 times, the youngsters may not have so keen a relish for unnatural exercise. exersize.

1899

MUDDY ROADS — Our road overseers are not all at work as they should be by now. Roads should not be left ‘til the mud puddles dry up and then the dried mud scraped into low spots while there is water there so it dries hard and firm.

BUSTLING BRUSHES — The brush factory that moved from New York to Glen Gardner a year ago shows what a new enterprise will do for a town. It gives employment to many boys and girls who otherwise would be idle.

1924

STANDING FIRM — Hampton has its own little Teapot Dome scandal. The Mayor was asked to resign at a special meeting of the council but he stood pat and refused.

NEW SCHOOL — After several months of careful study of the school situation in Lambertville, the board of education will call for bids in a few days for a new high school building.

1949

HOLIDAY — Banks, county offices, the Motor Vehicle office and schools will be closed all day tomorrow (Good Friday) by virtue of a legal holiday, while employees of many other businesses will be granted three hours off from noon to 3 p.m.

EARLY — Riegel Ridge, between Milford and Warren Glen, will be the scene of the third annual Easter Sunrise Service sponsored by the Back-to-Church Movement of the Delaware Valley.

EXCUSES — Besides being Good Friday, tomorrow marks the opening of trout season and fishermen who can’t get the holiday legally must invoke the old subterfuge of burying another grandmother.

NO DEMS — Contests in the county primary election next Tuesday are confined to the Republican party. The Democrats have a single candidate for each place on the general election ticket and as a result their vote is expected to be light.

CURBS COMING— Flemington Council has set July 1 as the deadline for installing curbs on New York and Elwood avenues and connecting with new sewer lines.

DAM REPAIR — Action is expected on repair of the Clinton mill dam when it is inspected April 28 by state, town and owners’ representatives. The wall at the east end of the dam, abutting the stone mill, is crumbling away and the question of responsibility must be fixed.

SCHOOLS GROW — Plans have been completed for a referendum on building proposals by the Readington Township Board of Education. Contemplated is a new building at Three Bridges and a sizable addition to the Whitehouse school.

1974

NO TRIAL — More than 200 prospective jurors arrived at the Hunterdon Courthouse Monday for a trial that never was. The last of 21 lawsuits stemming from the 1971 gas line explosion in Lambertville were settled out of court before the trials got under way.

PRICEY FUEL — Gasoline sales are down in Hunterdon, despite reports by state officials that purchases generally are up and that the odd-even day system may have to be revived. Dealers say that the primary reason for reduced sales is the high price per gallon. Motorists are shopping for price.

TWISTER — In the aftermath of a freak tornado which ripped through the Sharrer Road area of Lebanon Township late Sunday evening, there is both shock and disbelief that such a small funnel of wind could wreak so much havoc.

LAST SHOW — The old Gem Theater in Frenchtown, built and operated by the Wilmot Milbury family during the '30s, entertained movie fans for the last time in 1948. Current owner Mrs. Dabrowski wants to sell the neglected theater for $68,500.

ON-TIME — Jersey Central Railroad commuters are cheering in the aisles. The railroad has come through on its promise to improve on-time performance of its commuting train.

1999

MADE HERE — Next time you use your grandmother’s everyday dishes, check the bottom. If you see the name “Stangl” in small cursive letters, “Fulper” in bold capitals or an artist’s palette topped with the word “Della-Ware,” use it with care. It’s a piece of Hunterdon history.
“The carved version of the ‘Fruit’ pattern is still the most popular,” said Bob Perzel, owner of Popkorn Antiques in Flemington and an expert on Fulper-Stangl pottery.
Mr. Perzel is one of several speakers who will share their knowledge during the borough’s History Comes Alive festival, on weekends from May 7 to 23. The celebration, usually a summer event, has been moved up this year due to repairs planned at the historic Hunterdon County Courthouse.

The Fulper-Stangl pottery began in 1814 as Hill Pottery. Abraham Fulper acquired the business in 1860. The signature of Fulper pottery in that day was its utilitarian stoneware. Stoneware was very dense and more resistant to chipping than pottery.

As this century dawned, a line of art pottery began to appear. More decorative pieces such as vases, lamps and candle holders were made from pottery or stoneware, many of them hand-decorated.

By 1911, J. Martin Stangl, a ceramic engineer from Germany, had joined the business to create glazes. One of his first contributions was a solid green dinnerware. While not the most attractive dinnerware, said Mr. Perzel, “This stuff helped keep the company alive during the Depression.”

nthusiastic collectors of the pottery meet several times each year, and there has been discussion of siting a Stangl-Fulper museum in Flemington.